Railway-car braking and shifting apparatus.



PATENTED NOV. 20, 1906.

w. MINER. RAILWAY GAR BRAKING AND SHIFTING APPARATUS.

#APPLIOATIOH FILED MAR. 29. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

[NVENTOR W/TN/iSSES:

A TTORNE VS No. 836,269. PATENTED NOV. 20, 1906 W. MINER. v

RAILWAY CAR BRAKING AND SHIFTING APPARATUS.-

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Wnzwsss; v [/Vl ENTOR A TTORNE Y5 WALTER MINER, OF GEES-TON, IOWA.

RAILWAY-CAR BRAKING AND SHIFTING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 20, 1906'.

Application filed March 29, 1906. Serial No. 308,776.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER MINER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Creston, 1n the county of Union and State of Iowa,-

have invented a new and useful Railway-Car Braking and Shifting Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for switching railway-cars for I the purpose of making up trains or delivering cars to any iliisired track in a railway yard, depot, or the A further object of the invention is to-provide ameans whereby the cars may be given the required momentum to travel to near-by or to distant points Without danger of injury to the cars and Without the necessity of relying on the usual hand-brakes for checking the travel of the cars.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus in the form of an mclined plane over which the cars are moved by an engine or other mechanism and down which the cars may travel by gravity to tracks orsidings which commumcate with the foot of the incline, all of the switches being under the control of a single operator, who may direct any car to any desired point,

the operator being further enabled to govern the speed acquired by the car during its descent, so that the momentum may-be suflicient to carrythe car the desired distance, but not sufiiciently great to result in damage when the car is stopped by engagement with another car or train at its destination.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an inclined lane having railwaytrack and provided with means whereby the wheels of a car or cars may be gripped for the pn ose of holding the car at any desired point, so t at the operator may allow a car to descend and acquire speed throughout the whole or any part of the len th of the inclined plane in accordance wit the distance which the car is to travel after leaving the plane.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved wheel-gripping means so arranged that a number of cars may be independently locked and released at different oints on the plane. Y

A still further object of the invention is to provide a wheel-gripping means of such construction as to automatically compensate for variations in the width of the Wheels or the distance between such wheels and which will positively grip and hold the wheels without danger of injury.

A still further obj ect'of the invention is to provide wheel-gripping members of such construction as will permit of ready repair and replacing of worn or broken parts without the necessity of employing entirely new gripping devices throughout.

With these and other objects in view, as will more fully hereinafter appear, theinvention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described,

illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the forin, proportions, size, and minor details of thestructure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In theaccompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of an inclined plane provided with car holding and locking devices arranged and constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the device on the line 3 3- of Fig. 2. Fi 4 is a detail perspective view of a portion 0 one of the wheel-engaging rails.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings. v

In the drawings is shown an inclined plane 10, having suitable trafiic-rails 11, and the cars to be switched are pushed to the head of the plane by a switching-engine or the like and released one by one and'allowed. to travel down the plane by gravity, after/which the may be directed to different tracks 12, lea ing from the foot of the plane. The tracks 12 lead to different oints in the yard or depot, and the cars in escending the plane will acquire suflioient mementum to travel to any one of the yard-tracks, so that trains may be made up expeditiously and without the constant switching to and fro by yard-engines, as now practiced.

All of the mechanism is preferably arranged under the control of a single operator stationed in a tower 15, connection being made between all of the switches and the tower and suitable mechanism being employed on the inclined plane for gripping and holding the cars and determining the 'stance of unimpeded descent of such cars, so that each car may acquire the necessary monlenturn to carry it to the desired point, and in this manner several trains for different divisions may be made up expeditiously or cars shifted to different tracks or sidings to be loaded or unloaded.

On each side of each of the traffic-rails 11 p of the inclined plane are gripping-bars, these being disposed in pairs, the bars 16 and 17 being adjacent to one track and the bars 18 the opposite sides of the car-wheels and to hold the cars from movement, the mechanism bein so constructed and arranged that a car may e gripped and held at any point in the length of the plane, the distance through which it is free to travel bein controlled by the momentum which must he acquired to travel the car to the desired point in the yard,

the cars for the most distant points bein allowed to travel the full length of the inclined plane, while those for near-by points will be stopped near the foot of the plane and allowed to travel but a short distance, so that the velocitg will not be sufi'icient to result in dama'e w en the cars strike against other cars a ready in position in the trains.

In order to operate the gripping-rails, a number of fluid-pressure cylinders are employed, there being four sets of such cylinders- 22 23 24 25 in the present instance, and the cylinders of each set are connected by a ipe 26, which leads up to the signaling or 0t er tower 15, suitable valves being employed under the control of an attendant for the pur ose of operating the pairs ofcylinders in' ependently of each other or simultaneously. Each cylinder of each pair carries a piston 30, that is connected by a rod 31 to a lever 32, and. the latter is connected by rods 33 and 34 to the two gripping-rails which constitute each set, so that when fluid under pressure is allowed to 'flow into the cylinder and the lever is moved each of the rod connections will form a fulcrum for the transmission of movement to the other, and the gripping-rails which constitute each pair. or set Wlll be brought gradually together and will grip with equal force on opposite sides of the car-wheels,v thus automatically com pensating for wear or breakage of the wheels, difference in the thickness of the wheels, and

" difference in the distance between the Wheels of each axle.

The connections between the several sets of cylinders and the gripping-rails are disposed at different points in the length of such rails, and as the rails are more or less yieldable any one air of operating mechanism may be moved to gripping position in order to stop and look a car at any point, so that when released the car may be allowed to travel any desired distance down the inclined plane to gather momentum which will carry it to its destination.

In place of using compressed-air cylinders for operating the gripping-rails solenoids or direct mechanical connections may be employed, and these may be dis osed at any desired distance from each other without departing'from the invention.

I claim- 1. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with inclined traflic-rails, of a pair of wheel-gripping rails, and an operating means connected to the gripping-rails and arranged to automatically compensate for variations in the wheels.

2. In apparatus of the class described, inclined traffic-rails, a pair of wheel-gripping rails, for each traffic-rail, and an independent operating mechanism for each pair of gripping-rails.

3. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with inclined traffic-rails, of a pair of wheel-gripping rails for each trafficrail, independent operating mechanisms for each pair of gripping-rails, and means for simultaneously mo ving said operating means.

4. In ap aratus of the class described, inclined traffic-rails, a pair of wheel-gripping rails for each traflic-rail, an independent op- 'erating mechanism for each pair of grippingrails, and means connecting the rails of each pair to automatically compensate for variations in the wheels.

5. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with inclined traffic-rails, of a pair of wheel-gripping rails, an operating-lever having fulcrum connections with ,the gripping-rails of each pair, each fulcrum forming a center of movement for the other to automatically compensate for variations in the wheels.

6. A wheel-gripping device comprising a pair of rails arranged to simultaneously engage against opposite sides of the wheel, and means for pressing said rails with equal force against the sides of the wheels.

7. A gripping or holding device for carwheels, comprising a pair of wheel-gripping rails, and an operating means connected to both rails and arranged to exercise equal force on each of them.

8. A car-wheel gri ping or holding device comprising a pair 0 members arranged to engage against opposite sides of the wheel, an operating-lever, and means connecting the lever to both members, whereby each acts as a fulcrum for the movement of the other. I

7 bein individually and simultaneously opfluid-pressure cylinders arranged at different 9. In apparatus of the class described, inl clined traflic-rails, a pair of wheel-gripping rails between which one of the, traflic-rails is arranged, and a plurality of independentlyoperable rail-actuating devices connected to said gripping-rails.

10. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with traflic-rails, of a pair of car-wheel-gripping rails between which one of the traflic-rails is arranged, a plurality of operating devices connected to the gripplngrails at different points, respectively, in the lengths of the ralls, said 0 erating devices being independently operab e.

11. In apparatus 0 the class described, the combination with traffic-rails, of a air of car-wheel-gripping rails, a plurality o oper ating members connected to the gripping? rails at different points, respectively, in the length of the latter, said operating devices erab e.

12. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with trafiic-rails, 0f elongated wheel-gripping rails, sectional grippingbloc'ks on the inner faces of the rails, and dovetailed ribbed and grooved connections between the blocks and rails.

13. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with inclined traflic-rails, of a pair of wheelgripping rails, a plurality of points in the length of the gripping-rails, and

each having independent connections with said gripping-rails, and valved fluid-pressure pipes connecting the cylindersin pairs transversely of such rails.

14. In apparatus of the class described, an inclined plane having traflic-rails, a plurality of sets of rails leading from the foot of the inclined plane and having switch connections with the traffic-rails thereon, gripping-rails arranged on opposite sides of the trafiic-rails, operating means for the gripping-rails, and switch operating and grip ihg-rail controlling mechanisms arranged at the central point for control by an operator.

15. In apparatus of the class described, an inclined plane having traffic-rails, a plurality of sets of rails leading from the foot of the inclined plane and having switch connections with the traffic-rails thereon, gripping-rails arranged on opposite sides of said trafiic-rails, operating means for such gripping-rails, a switch-tower, connections leadlng therefrom to the switches at the foot of the incline, and means located in the tower for controlling the gripping-rail-operating devices.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

, WALTER MINER.

Witnesses E. HUME TALBERT, MARY E. CoLLIE. 

